Will the Sun Set on the Egghead Arc in ‘One Piece’ Chapter 1123?

Depending on your priorities, the ending of Egghead has presented a few persistent questions. Are the Five Elders even beatable? When will Vegapunk’s broadcast end? Is Emet capable of taking on the Five Elders? Thankfully, all three of those questions were answered in One Piece chapter 1122, “Time is Right,” with very satisfying results.

Both ships are in the water, and it finally feels like the sun is setting on the Egghead arc. I’ll emphasize “feels,” though, because this could all be a red herring, as we still haven’t seen that Blackbeard ship do anything yet. Remember, the one that popped up right before we smash cut to Shanks versus Kid? That feels … ominous.

Time will tell … but not before Eiichiro Oda rips all of our hearts out with our new robot son. Unfortunately, Weekly Shounen Jump is off next week, so we have to wait to find out. One Piece chapter 1123, along with all Shounen Jump manga, will return on Sunday, August 18, 2024.

In the meantime, we have the big One Piece Day celebrations on August 10 and 11 to keep us busy!

I love my robot son

Major spoilers ahead for One Piece chapter 1122

In chapter 1121, Jewelry Bonney gave Saint Jaygarcia Saturn an epic finishing blow. With Luffy’s help, sure, but Luffy let her get all the glory, which was the cutest thing in the world—at least until 1122’s flashback showed Emet, AKA the “Iron Giant,” and Joyboy together.

It says a lot that Emet unleashed a memento of Joyboy’s personal haki onto Egghead, knocking almost everyone out and sending the remaining four Five Elders back to Marijois, and all I want to talk about is how cute he is. A couple of weeks ago on The One Piece Podcast, English translator Stephen Paul illuminated that Emet’s way of speaking in Japanese is notably boyish. So I read this chapter with a cute little boy’s voice ringing in my head for Emet—and my god.

Yes, chapter 1122 is the first time we see and hear Joyboy in the entire series. Yes, Joyboy appears to be wearing a straw hat. No, Joyboy does not appear to be a giant, which makes you wonder whose hat Imu has stored in his freezer. But all I want to talk about is Emet’s freaking lederhosen and his infectious joy when talking to his friend. He’s giant-sized, just so large, and yet I still want to refer to “his little lederhosen.”

Steve Yurko’s art for this week’s The One Piece Podcast thoroughly gets it.

Boar-saint will pay for spiking him through. I will always protect my new 900-year-old son.

Will he be okay?

Chapter 1122 ends with Emet, 900 years ago, giggling as he and Joyboy talk about what may happen far into the future. “I hope I don’t get lonely. Hee hee hee … hee hee …” Emet chuckles. My heart breaks. And we thought Brook’s backstory was tough.

In the present-day storyline, Emet looks to be in rough shape. Will he—or Sentomaru, or Stussy, or Kaku—make it off of Egghead? Find out in One Piece chapter 1123 when it releases!